ELLA: Extractive Industries and Conflict Managementhttp://ella.practicalaction.org
A South-South knowledge sharing and learning platform on selected economic, environmental and governance issues...Wed, 16 Aug 2017 18:01:21 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2Human Rights and Resource Conflicts in the Amazonhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/fdbYiIq337k/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/human-rights-and-resource-conflicts-in-the-amazon/#commentsMon, 16 Feb 2015 11:01:37 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=130400The Amazon comprises the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Numerous indigenous peoples have traditionally inhabited this region, and 25 percent of its total land area is formally recognised as indigenous territories. Such territories are an effective means of protecting the forest. Deforestation and problems related to illegal logging have a lower incidence in indigenous territories than other areas, including protected areas.]]>The Amazon comprises the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Numerous indigenous peoples have traditionally inhabited this region, and 25 percent of its total land area is formally recognised as indigenous territories. Such territories are an effective means of protecting the forest. Deforestation and problems related to illegal logging have a lower incidence in indigenous territories than other areas, including protected areas.

The rainforest and the indigenous territories are rich in natural resources such as timber, water, oil and gas, gold, and other minerals. The high price of energy and raw materials ensures that these resources are in high demand. Current developments in the Amazon are characterised by intensive natural resource exploitation and heavy investment in infrastructure development, to a large extent coordinated on a regional basis. The intensified hunt for resources is leading to increased pressure on the land, territories and way of life of native peoples. Their right to participation in decision-making processes on the adoption of measures that directly impact on their living conditions is constantly being challenged, and reports of heightened violence against human rights defenders gives great cause for alarm. At the same time, many small-scale conflicts such as those arising from illegal logging and gold mining persist. The aggregate scope of these conflicts is placing massive pressure on indigenous peoples and their lands, as well as on organisations and individuals working to safeguard human rights and the environment.

All of the Amazon states acknowledge that indigenous peoples inhabit their territories, and that these have distinct rights. Most of the states have signed and ratified the fundamental human rights conventions, as well as international agreements on indigenous rights, such as the International Labour Organisation’s Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. There has also been progress on the national level regarding the development of the legislative framework for the protection of indigenous peoples and their rights to land and to self-determination. On paper, then, native peoples have seen important progress over the last decades.

In reality, the situation is a different one. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders reports that human rights defenders working on land and environmental issues in the Americas are more exposed to physical attacks than those in other parts of the world. Many activists are being killed because of their efforts to safeguard fundamental rights, and conflicts often arise over extractive projects and competition over land. This is confirmed by a survey on the killing of persons working to safeguard the right to land and to natural resources over the last decade. These numbers are on the rise, and almost 80 percent of all killings in this period occurred in the three Amazon countries of Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/human-rights-and-resource-conflicts-in-the-amazon/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/human-rights-and-resource-conflicts-in-the-amazon/A Land Title is not Enough: Ensuring Sustainable Land Restitution in Colombiahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/AL3WcGZ3RzI/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/a-land-title-is-not-enough-ensuring-sustainable-land-restitution-in-colombia/#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 14:50:12 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=130100The violent struggle to control territory for economic, military and political reasons, coupled with high levels of rural poverty and the high concentration of land ownership among relatively few owners, has been one of the root causes of Colombia’s 50-year-old internal armed conflict. There has been an insatiable appetite amongst numerous actors in Colombia to gain and maintain control over land deemed critical to their varying interests.]]>The violent struggle to control territory for economic, military and political reasons, coupled with high levels of rural poverty and the high concentration of land ownership among relatively few owners, has been one of the root causes of Colombia’s 50-year-old internal armed conflict. There has been an insatiable appetite amongst numerous actors in Colombia to gain and maintain control over land deemed critical to their varying interests. These actors include the security forces and paramilitaries (either acting alone or in collusion with each other), guerrilla groups, some political and business elites in the regions, drug traffickers and other criminal enterprises.

This has had a devastating impact on the millions of Colombians who traditionally rely on land for their survival, especially Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant farmer communities. It has led to the forced displacement of almost 6 million people – nearly 13% of Colombia’s population and one of the highest displacement levels in the world and the illegal acquisition of around 8 million hectares of land, some 14% of Colombia’s territory.

Most of those forcibly displaced in the course of the conflict had an association with the land from which they were forced to flee, in that they owned it or had customary rights over it, worked on it individually or communally, or had tenure or possession over it.

Large-scale infrastructure developments and the agro-industrial, agro-fuel and extractive industries, both domestic and international, have frequently benefited from forced displacement and land grabs, through the removal of communities from strategic areas earmarked for exploitation. This displacement has been primarily carried out by paramilitaries often operating in collusion with state security forces. Guerrilla forces have also threatened and killed civilians in the context of exploiting particular economic resources, often driving people from their lands as a consequence.

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/a-land-title-is-not-enough-ensuring-sustainable-land-restitution-in-colombia/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/a-land-title-is-not-enough-ensuring-sustainable-land-restitution-in-colombia/What is Legal? Formalising Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Colombiahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/9T9mepU6isU/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/what-is-legal-formalising-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining-in-colombia/#commentsSun, 23 Nov 2014 23:50:56 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=128200Colombia’s mining sector is characterised by widespread informality. A recent census revealed that 72 per cent of all mining operations in Colombia are classed as ‘artisanal and small-scale mining’ (ASM), and 63 per cent are ‘informal’, lacking a legal mining concession or title. Large-scale mining (LSM) comprises only one per cent of operations. Over 340,000 Colombians depend directly on ASM and medium-scale mining (MSM) for their income.]]>Colombia’s mining sector is characterised by widespread informality. A recent census revealed that 72 per cent of all mining operations in Colombia are classed as ‘artisanal and small-scale mining’ (ASM), and 63 per cent are ‘informal’, lacking a legal mining concession or title. Large-scale mining (LSM) comprises only one per cent of operations. Over 340,000 Colombians depend directly on ASM and medium-scale mining (MSM) for their income. This informality deprives the state of important financial resources, while the current poor conditions (environmental, social, health and safety, labour, technical and trading) prevent the sector from delivering on important social objectives, such as generating formal employment and improving quality of life in mining communities.

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/what-is-legal-formalising-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining-in-colombia/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/what-is-legal-formalising-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining-in-colombia/Peru’s Deadly Environment: The Rise in Killings of Environmental and Land Defendershttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/kRaZxszh4FY/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/peru-s-deadly-environment-the-rise-in-killings-of-environmental-and-land-defenders/#commentsThu, 20 Nov 2014 17:31:58 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=128100The world’s attention will be on Peru this December, as governments from 195 countries convene in the capital Lima for the 2014 UN Climate Conference. As delegates negotiate a global deal aimed at averting catastrophic climate change, a parallel human rights crisis is unfolding in Peru and around the world. An increasing number of people on the frontline of the fight to protect the environment are being killed.]]>The world’s attention will be on Peru this December, as governments from 195 countries convene in the capital Lima for the 2014 UN Climate Conference. As delegates negotiate a global deal aimed at averting catastrophic climate change, a parallel human rights crisis is unfolding in Peru and around the world. An increasing number of people on the frontline of the fight to protect the environment are being killed.

The recent murders of Peruvian indigenous leader Edwin Chota and three of his colleagues, who died trying to defend their land in the Amazon from illegal logging, are part of a global trend in violent crime against activists. Global Witness research, published earlier this year, shows that on average, two such ‘environmental and land’ defenders are being killed each week around the world, a rate that has been increasing in recent years. Governments aren’t doing enough to stop it.

As global demand for natural resources intensifies, more and more ordinary people are having to defend their rights to land and the environment from corporate or state abuse. Many of the killings stem from conflicts over the ownership and use of land, particularly in the face of expanded mining and logging activities. An estimated 93% of extractive and agriculture projects happen on land that is already inhabited. The author's research found that Peru is the world’s fourth deadliest country to be an environmental or land defender, behind Brazil, Honduras and the Philippines. Between 2002 and 2014, at least 57 such activists were killed in Peru. More than half died during the last four years.

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/peru-s-deadly-environment-the-rise-in-killings-of-environmental-and-land-defenders/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/peru-s-deadly-environment-the-rise-in-killings-of-environmental-and-land-defenders/Violating Rights and Threatening Lives: The Camisea Gas Project and Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolationhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/72HPVoOctl4/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/violating-rights-and-threatening-lives-the-camisea-gas-project-and-indigenous-peoples-in-voluntary-isolation/#commentsFri, 14 Nov 2014 10:27:20 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=127900It also summarises the evidence documenting the occupation and use of the Reserve by isolated peoples and describes how the project’s current planned expansion risks causing further negative impacts for isolated groups and threatens to violate their fundamental rights to life and a healthy environment, territorial and cultural integrity and self-determination. In sum, the report finds that this project threatens their very existence and survival as indigenous peoples.]]>It also summarises the evidence documenting the occupation and use of the Reserve by isolated peoples and describes how the project’s current planned expansion risks causing further negative impacts for isolated groups and threatens to violate their fundamental rights to life and a healthy environment, territorial and cultural integrity and self-determination. In sum, the report finds that this project threatens their very existence and survival as indigenous peoples.

The document draws on a variety of published and previously unpublished sources of information including from Peru’s Health Ministry and other state institutions, the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Development Bank, anthropologists, multiple NGOs and the Camisea gas project website. Information has also been obtained from Pluspetrol, the company leading the consortium which operates the project and also draws on fieldwork carried out by the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP).

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/violating-rights-and-threatening-lives-the-camisea-gas-project-and-indigenous-peoples-in-voluntary-isolation/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/violating-rights-and-threatening-lives-the-camisea-gas-project-and-indigenous-peoples-in-voluntary-isolation/Contestations over Indigenous Participation in Bolivia’s Extractive Industry: Ideology, Practices, and Legal Normshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/TZehkMm1yVk/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/contestations-over-indigenous-participation-in-bolivia-s-extractive-industry-ideology-practices-and-legal-norms/#commentsMon, 13 Oct 2014 13:06:25 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=126800The participatory rights of indigenous peoples have been at the center of conflicts over resource extraction, which have recently increased in number and intensity across Latin America. Using comprehensive empirical data about the Guaraníes’ participation in Bolivia’s gas sector, this study finds that competing claims regarding territory, property, participation, and decision making provide important explanations for contestations over consultation practices and legal norms in the country.]]>The participatory rights of indigenous peoples have been at the center of conflicts over resource extraction, which have recently increased in number and intensity across Latin America. Using comprehensive empirical data about the Guaraníes’ participation in Bolivia’s gas sector, this study finds that competing claims regarding territory, property, participation, and decision making provide important explanations for contestations over consultation practices and legal norms in the country. It argues that the main conflicts can be explained by (1) the Bolivian state’s focus on directly affected communities and those with formally recognized land titles, something that clashes with the Guaraníes’ principle of “territorial integrity”; (2) the state’s conviction that it holds a monopoly over subsoil resources, and the limited rights to participation that it is willing to grant as a consequence, which the Guaraníes reject; and (3) the dissonance between state customs and regulations and Guaraní uses and customs.

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/contestations-over-indigenous-participation-in-bolivia-s-extractive-industry-ideology-practices-and-legal-norms/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/contestations-over-indigenous-participation-in-bolivia-s-extractive-industry-ideology-practices-and-legal-norms/Rethinking the Consultation-Conflict Link: Lessons from Bolivia’s Gas Sectorhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/FcC9KxTf8l4/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/rethinking-the-consultation-conflict-link-lessons-from-bolivia-s-gas-sector/#commentsThu, 03 Jul 2014 13:53:06 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=124500The paper shows that consultations do not only appease conflicts, but also exacerbate them as these procedures are used to negotiate broader grievances. The author further argues that narrow consultations (like those carried out in Bolivia) – rather than comprehensive ones – repress conflicts in the short term by limiting opportunities to mobilize against extractive projects.]]>The paper shows that consultations do not only appease conflicts, but also exacerbate them as these procedures are used to negotiate broader grievances. The author further argues that narrow consultations (like those carried out in Bolivia) – rather than comprehensive ones – repress conflicts in the short term by limiting opportunities to mobilize against extractive projects. It also reveals that the degree of conflict and prevention potential of consultations varied according to the affected groups and highlights the ambiguous effects of the entanglement of consultations and compensations.

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/rethinking-the-consultation-conflict-link-lessons-from-bolivia-s-gas-sector/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/rethinking-the-consultation-conflict-link-lessons-from-bolivia-s-gas-sector/ELLA Extractive Industries and Conflict Management Knowledge Materials now available in Spanishhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/WKHm-qq3CnU/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-new-post/ella-extractive-industries-and-conflict-management-knowledge-materials-now-available-in-spanish/#commentsWed, 04 Jun 2014 18:44:46 +0000http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=123300Spanish-speakers can now download these materials from the following pages:

LEA 1 lasted from March until November 2012, and was run as part of the DFID funded programme “Evidence and Lessons from Latin America“. It consisted of online exchange and learning activities addressed to pre-selected experts from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The moderation of this Learning Alliance was conducted by Gerardo Damonte with support from Manuel Glave, both senior researchers at GRADE, a leading research institution based in Lima, Peru. The overall goal was for participants to gain knowledge of LA policies and practices that promote responsible investments in the extractive industry and which could be applied in other countries/contexts.

The Learning Alliance was structured in three thematic modules designed to reflect participants’ interests. They were:

Preventing and Addressing Social Conflicts in the Extractive Industries

The Learning Alliance Highlight documents provide a synthesis of the points of view expressed by contributors and the two moderators, with links to publications and interviews prepared for and/or shared during this exchange, as well as brief concluding remarks by the moderators. The names of the contributors are highlighted in bold for easy reference. Our thanks go to the contributing experts and to all the people who took part in the online debate.

]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-highlight/ella-learning-alliance-on-extractive-industries-summary-achieving-responsible-investments/feed/0http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-highlight/ella-learning-alliance-on-extractive-industries-summary-achieving-responsible-investments/ELLA Learning Alliance on Extractive Industries – Module 1: Land Use Planning and Accesshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ELLA/ExtractiveIndustriesAndConflictManagement/~3/QnXi9mEnXRE/
http://ella.practicalaction.org/knowledge-highlight/ella-learning-alliance-on-extractive-industries-module-1-land-use-planning-and-access/#commentsThu, 20 Mar 2014 12:41:13 +0000involuntary resettlement.
]]>Argentina]]>]]>http://ella.practicalaction.org/?p=120100Read more ELLA Learning Alliance on Extractive Industries – Module 1: Land Use Planning and Access]]>During the five weeks of Module 1, the Moderator, Gerardo Damonte, presented Latin American policy frameworks and practical experiences related to land use planning and access. National Land Use Planning Systems (NLUPS) were reviewed in order for participants to gain knowledge of the general framework of land planning in the region. Assessing the restrictions and conditionalities of these NLUPS formed a key part of the discussions. In the second part of the module, the debate focused on land access issues. Participants deliberated the importance of social licensing in Latin America and its potential for other regions. Issues such as territorial rights and compensation methods were also discussed, based mainly on a review of the Yasuní ITT case study.

This document contains a summary of the issues raised each week by the Moderator and the main conclusions drawn from discussions. Materials shared during the exchange are hyperlinked and relevant contributions are included in text boxes. Finally, conclusions for the whole module are presented.